Self-locking latch.



E. A. scHRElBER. SELF LOCKING LATCH.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 30, 1912.

Patented Apr. 28, 1914.

EDlVARD A. SCHREIBER, OF CHICAGO,

ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR- TO CHICAGO CAR HEAT- ING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO,ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

SELF-LOCKING LATCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 28, 1914:.

Application filed July 30, 1912. Serial No. 712,336.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ED1VARD A. SCHREIBER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and use ful Improvements inSelf-Locking Latches, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to latches for doors and the like, and has for itsobject to provide a novel device for holding a latch in its operativeposition which automatically locks the latch when the door is closed andis so constructed and arranged to be very quickly and easily moved outof its engagement with the latch when the door is to be opened.

The device is intended to be used particularly upon the door of stovesor heaters used in railway cars or in similar situations. It is usual toprovide stove or heater doors, under these circumstances, with means forlocking them in closed position so that the contents of the fire boXwill not be spilled out into the car in case of accident. The lockingdevices which have been used heretofore require manipulation by hand.That is, the latch is first closed and then the locking device moved toits locking position. Frequently the attendant forgets or neglects tolock the latch.

The primary object of my present invention is to provide a latchmechanism for the doors of stoves or other heaters which will be selflooking so that when the door is closed its latch will be automaticallylocked.

The invention is illustrated, in a preferred embodiment, in theaccompanying drawing in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of the doorof a stove or heater provided with the self locking latch of myinvention, Fig. 2, a side view of these parts with the locking device ordog in operative position; Fig. 3, a similar view with the locking dogreversed to release the latch and the latch raised; and Fig. at, a view,in perspective, of the locking dog.

Like characters of reference designate like parts in the several figuresof the drawing.

Referring to the drawing, 10 designates the door frame casting of astove or heater, and 11 the door secured thereto by hinges 12. The latchbar 13 is pivoted to the door by a pivot pin 14;, the front casting 15of the door having a slot 16 to give the latch bar play. The latch baris en aged when in operative position, in a note 17 formed in aprojecting lug 18 on the casting 10. The latch bar is provided,preferably, with the baokwardly extending projection 19 formed with anotch 20.

The locking dog 21 is loosely pivoted on a pivot pin 22 on the doorframe casting 10. One end 28 of the dog is heavier than the other andhas an angular nose 2 1 adapted to engage with the notch 20 of thelatch. One side of the nose has the flat surface 25 which bears againstthe shoulder 26 formed by notch 20 (Fig. 2). The other side of the noseis curved so as to constitute a cam 27 which rests upon the top of thelatch when the dog is reversed from its operative position. The otherend of the pivot is formed with a preferably somewhat pointed projection28.

The operation of the device is well illus trated by the drawing. Fig. 1and the full lines of Fig. 2 represent the locking dog in its lockingposition. The dotted lines of Fig. 2 show the dog in the reversedposition. The dog is reversed by striking a lug 28 with the fingerturning the dog in the direction indicated by the arrow. This brings thecam 27 into contact with the top of the latch. The latch may then beraised, the cam or curved face sliding over the latch and the dogturning on its pivot as shown in Fig. 3. The dog falls back to itsnormal position when the door is opened. hen the door is closed the endof the latch projection 19 comes against the flat surface 25 of the dogand the dog is swung back. As soon as the latch bar enters the notch 17the dog automatically falls into the locking position with its nose inengagement'with notch 20.

I claim:

1. The combination with a latch bar, of a reversible looking dog movablein a plane transverse to the plane of the latch bar which in oneposition locks the latch bar and in the other position engages the latchbar so as to be raised thereby.

2. The combination with a latch bar formed with a notch, of a pivotedreversible locking dog having a nose adapted to engage said notch andwith a cam face which is in position to be engaged by the latch bar whenthe dog is turned over upon its pivot.

3. The combination with a latch bar having an angular projection formedwith a notch, of a pivoted locking dog formed with a nose adapted toengage said notch and with a cam face which is in position to be engagedby the latch bar when the dog is turned over upon its pivot.

4:. The combination with a latch bar formed so as to provide asubstantially vertical shoulder, of a. pivoted dog weighted at one endand said end formed with a fiat surface adapted to engage said shoulderand a curved cam surface adapted to engage the latch bar when the dog isturned on its pivot.

he combination with a latch bar, of a gravity dog pivoted to swingtransversely to the plane of said bar, and a projecting member on theinner face of the latch bar which engages said dog and swings the sameon its pivot, said dog and bar formed with coengaging locking meanswhich operatively engage when the latch is in closed position.

6. The combination with a latch bar, of a pivoted gravity locking dogmovable into locking position by the movement of the latch bar to itsoperative position and which can be turned on its pivot to a non-lockingengagement with the latch bar while said latch bar is in operativeposition.

7. The combination with a latch bar of a dog adapted to have a lockingengagement with said bar, said dog being supported above the bar withits lower end projecting into the path of the same and with capacity formovement in adirection transverse to the plane 01": said bar so that thedog is pushed out of the path of the bar by a closing movement of thelatter.

8. The combination with a door and a latch bar, of a pivoted,reversible, gravity locking dog which, in one position, stands in thepath of the latch bar when the door is open, is pushed out of its pathby said bar as the door is closing and falls into locking engagementwith said bar when the door is completely closed; said dog beingprovided with a cam face which, when the dog is in the reversedposition, is engaged by the latch bar when the bar is raised so that thedog turns on its pivot with the raising of said bar.

EDlVARD A. SCI-IREIBER.

lVitnesSes G. Y. SKINNER, R. C. TIIORESON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

